Why Pre-pay?

Why pre-pay?

There are very important differences between a funeral in the UK and one abroad.

Firstly, outside the UK, the funeral normally takes place within 48 hours of your death. This unimaginably swift funeral process is incomprehensible to expatriates and comes as a huge shock. You can imagine the immense pressure this can put on grieving relatives who may have no idea who to call, how to register a death and so on.

Secondly you may be required to pay for the funeral within 24 hours of the death. If you are unable to pay upfront because you have insufficient funds or your bank account has been frozen (which is normal practice) the funeral can be postponed and you can be charged for each additional day it is delayed.

On top of all that, the language barrier can be a serious issue in itself – with complex regulations and red tape thrown into the mix to add to the confusion.

Which is why more and more expatriates are making absolutely sure that everything is arranged and the funds are securely in place to pay for their pre arranged funeral services well before they actually pass away.

So what is the financial benefit of pre paying for your funeral?

The cost of funerals has historically increased above the normal level of inflation and this trend is predicted to continue. It’s almost impossible to predict what the cost of a funeral might be in five or ten years time but a recent survey has shown that the cost of a Spanish funeral has increased by up to 25% in the last five years. UK funerals have reportedly increased by over 40%!

If in 2000, you had invested £1650 (the cost of one of our Spanish funeral plans then) in a standard building society account, it would have grown to £2,062 by 2009*
The cost of the same funeral would have risen to £3,640** by then and so the building society investment would not have covered the cost by some £1,578. That’s a shortfall that no-one would want to have to meet!

So if you were to pay the local funeral director at the time of need, you and your family would be paying considerably more for the services than if you owned a Golden Leaves Funeral Plan.  And as Golden Leaves plans are fixed at today’s prices, in years to come, when you require these services, this will add up to a significant cost saving.

*Based on Building Society Association quoted deposit interest rates for notice rates 2000-2009
** Spanish Average Funeral Pricing Survey, July 2009.